


Coaches don't play

by svevijah



Series: Future Starts Slow. [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, Lila Barton is literally everybody's bro, and she's also very good at it, coaches don't play but sometimes they make exceptions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-07 02:23:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18863803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/svevijah/pseuds/svevijah
Summary: Four times Lila Barton gave relationship advices and one in which she got it.





	Coaches don't play

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote so much sad stuff lately that I felt like something more light hearted would have been the best choice for my Lila series, lol. So, Lila is a good bro with all of her teammates, even though they're quite a handful... and then there's the last one, which is quite a wild card :'')   
> Just for random reference, I imagine Harry to look like Herman Tømmeraas, but then again I guess he could look like anybody lol   
> Comments would be rad! <3

Night patrol had become one of Lila’s favourite night activities since she began donning the Black Widow mantle, and the fact that she was way far from her parents surely helped get that freedom of action she longed for years. Weekend nights were the best – no school, chance to leave the dormitory and spend time with her friends until late. However, Friday nights were always a bit of a let-down, for usually everybody would show up on Saturday early morning.

As she paced calmly in the hallway in the floor that Pepper cleared in Stark Industries so that all the kids could have a common place to meet up in New York, Lila stopped in front of the workshop door and tilted her head to see why the lights was on. Clearing her throat, she entered inside, narrowing her eyes when she heard Harley reprimand Dum-E about using a fire extinguisher too soon.

“The hell are you doing here?” she asked in a loud tone while balancing her bo staff between her legs and resting her elbow on top of it.

“What do you mean?” Harley remarked with a confused expression on his face, hands pointing at the piece of tech he was tinkering with.

Lila sighed, shaking her head. Harley was one of the first guys she befriended after Tony’s funeral, and although their friendship was mostly based on the fact that they often felt like the shoes they had to fill were definitely too big and the constant clash of their personalities, at times Lila really couldn’t understand what would bring Harley to be _the dumbest person on earth_.

“Didn’t you have a date with Peter tonight?” Harley hummed as a response, and Lila’s eyes narrowed even more. “Then… why are you here?”

A shaky chuckle echoed in the workshop, and Harley carelessly threw a screw in a drawer. “I went there. And you know who was there as well?” Lila shook her head and gestured for him to keep going. “Fucking Harry Osborn.”

Lila’s mouth opened wide in fake shock, and she promptly took a seat in front of the desk, crossing her arms tight and showing a brand-new light in her eyes. “I can’t believe he finally introduced you to his childhood best friend, honestly.”

“That’s all you have to say?”

“Why do I have the feeling there’s more to it?”

Harley took a sharp breath and continued to speak, head tilted down and eyes fixed on the tools. “He’s such a spoiled brat, with his dumb super cool car, that stupid good hair and pretty green eyes.”

“Careful there, someone would say you’re either jealous or in love with him.” Lila said teasingly, and Harley snorted loudly. “None of these are true though. It’s just that…”

“That?”

“You know, I don’t think I can compete against him for Peter’s love – so I said that I didn’t feel well and left. That’s it.”

“Look,” Lila began, hands quickly raising before her. “I’m not saying what you told me is not _valid_ but yeah, it’s kinda dumb.” She stopped for a second, and a focused expression covered her face. “You’re the most awesome guy ever! You’re a MIT student and Iron Lad – a good brother and a good friend, and that’s why Peter loves you!”

“But what if it won’t be enough and Harry–“

“Harley, according to what I’ve heard from Peter about him, I’m quite sure Harry is not interested in Peter _that way_. Don’t make the voices in your head ruin the good thing you and Pete have.” Lila’s tone had never been more serious and for a moment Harley just stayed there staring at her like she was an alien.

“Should I call him and apologize?”

“Definitely! Communication is the key, my friend!” she reminded, getting up from the chair with a small jump. “And maybe give Harry a second chance, since Peter seems to really want the two of you to get along, you know.”

Harley nodded at her words, already pulling out his phone from the pocket of his jeans. As Lila walked to the workshop entrance, she retrieved her bo staff and opened the door. “Also, please don’t do anything stupid in there – last thing we need is the building blown up.”

“Don’t worry, you’re taking all the stupid outside with you.” He remarked, and Lila raised a middle finger.

____________________

Babysit duty for Lila was like a breath of fresh air. Sure, she loved her friends, but there was something in spending time with Nate and Morgan that Lila quite couldn’t figure out why would give her happiness – maybe it was the way they’d just let out all their weirdest thoughts and have that pure imagine of the world that she couldn’t have anymore since she was told Natasha was dead.

“What are you guys doing?” she asked in a cheerful tone across the room, where she was sitting on the armchair. Nathaniel and Morgan were drawing cards sitting at the tiny table in the corner. The children held up the cards and began talking euphorically, so Lila got up and sat cross legged at the table.

“This me and this is you.” Morgan explained pointing to each person in the drawing with a knowingly tone. Lila gave her a warm smile. “I love it Mo! Can I keep it?” she asked in a whisper, and Morgan seemed to think about it for a while before nodding firmly.

“What about you Nate?”

Nathaniel pursed his lips tight, quickly turning the drawing down so neither his sister or Morgan could see it. When Lila tried to turn the paper, he waved her hand away with his.

“Is it unfinished?” Lila asked curiously and Nathaniel shrugged lightly. Understanding that the conversation with her younger brother wasn’t going to happen, she dropped the subject, suggesting the children to wash their hands so that they could get a snack. As Morgan and Nathaniel rushed to the bathroom, Lila gave a look to her brother’s card and a warm smile appeared on her face: he and Morgan were pictured holding hands – he was wearing his favourite Black Widow t-shirt and Morgan had her plastic Iron Man mask on. A long yellowish being that Lila figured was Lucky was laying at their feet.

When the children walked past her to get in the kitchen, Lila put a hand on her brother’s shoulder, causing him to stop abruptly and almost fall on his back. “You should give it to her, you know?”

Nathaniel furrowed his brows, shaking his head lightly. “it’s not as pretty as her card.”

“So what? I’m sure she’ll like it anyway!”

Nathaniel pouted a little, and finally took the card from his sister’s hand to give it to Morgan. “This is you and me, because you’re my best friend.” He said sheepishly, and Morgan’s mouth opened wide as she gave the card a better look. She let out a happy shriek and quickly jumped up to hug her friend.

Leaning on the door frame, Lila gave her brother two thumbs up, to which her replied with a wide smile as he embraced his friend tighter.

____________________

“What do princesses like?” Cassie asked out of the blue while Lila was painting her nails of a bright red. Stopping the brush mid-air, Lila tilted her head, a confused expression on her face.

“You mean a random princess or like, a princess that we know?” she asked as she slowly came back to paint Cassie’s nails.

Cassandra thought about it for a second, and her nose scrunched in concentration. By now, she had known Lila for a while – sure there also were five years of radio silence, but the two years before really proved her that Lila could be worthy of her trust and to know her deepest secrets.

“Alright I have no idea what to buy Shuri for her birthday.” She let out quickly, and Lila couldn’t help but chuckle. “Come on Lils, don’t be like _that_.” She pointed out in an annoyed tone, and Lila promptly composed herself.

“Sorry I just, you know I was wondering when this conversation would have happened.”

Cassie gasped, a shocked expression hovering on her face. “You knew about that and didn’t say a thing? You let me crawl in the dark when you knew about the present?”

Lila raised her brow and gestured for the girl to tone drama queen vibe down. Narrowing her eyes tight, Cassandra signed to continue talking, and Lila let out a sigh in disbelief. “Her brother’s suit comes out of a necklace, right?”

Cassie nodded firmly, keeping her focus on the discourse. “So it’s ok to believe that Shuri’s suit will come out of somewhere as well once it’s ready.”

“Are you suggesting me to buy her a necklace?”

“I’d say a bracelet would be fine too, but then again it would be impractical because of the gauntlets, you know…” she trailed off, mimicking the way Shuri would shoot sonic blasts with her Vibranium wapons.

“You pretty much saved my life, you know that?”

Lila shrugged lightly, flashing a grin. “No biggie, Cas.”

____________________

The day Miles revealed his powers to Lila, they were sitting on the rooftop of Brooklyn Visions Academy, the windows to both their bedroom open and a light breeze moving around them. Despite the first moment of shock, Lila eventually decided that his explanation definitely made sense with what she had gathered about his sketchy behaviour.

And then he dropped the story, how suddenly his room was filled with people from different earths and times and how he met this girl with eyes as blue as the ocean and haircut that had a funny story behind. Lila could feel the nostalgia about that time dripping through his words, and for a moment she wondered how much loss do they all have to go through before get something right – or fair for what it mattered.

“This is Gwen.” Miles said in a whisper as he showed her a bunch of pictures from their time together, and Lila almost felt like she was an intruder in a story that doesn’t belong to her.

“She’s very pretty.” It’s all she managed to say, an awkward smile on her face as he began to ramble about how Gwen was also smart, and skilled, and funny, and fierce. Then Miles suddenly became quiet, and Lila noticed his eyes were getting teary.

“Do you miss her?” she asked quietly, and Miles nodded. “Can you keep in touch with her?”

As he shook his head no, Lila pursed her lips, trying to come up with something comforting to say. “You know, you could buy a sketchbook and draw things that remind you of her.”

“Like letters?” he asked and Lila shrugged as an answer.

“And then one day, if you’ll ever meet her again, you could hand her the sketchbook and know you’ve never forgotten her.”

“Do you think I will meet her again someday?” Miles asked hesitantly, and Lila nodded firmly. “I’m certain of that.”

After that exchange of thoughts, silence fell between them, and as they watched the stars hovering New York, Lila wondered if there was an earth where she could have saved Nat and Tony.

____________________

When Harley dragged Lila all down Times Square to get brunch with him, Peter and Harry, she couldn’t help but curse in her head the day she decided to give her friends relationship advices. Not that she minded helping, but being a mediator in a live situation that could have gone down hill wasn’t really her aspiration for life that day.

“Honestly, this is an issue you _three_ have to resolve.”

“We’re gonna mess up without you mediating for us,” Harley declared dryly. “so, your presence here is definitely needed.”

As they entered the place, Peter raised a hand and waved at them, to which Harley waved back with the brightest smile on his face. Walking towards the table, Lila moved lightly to do the group’s handshake with Peter, giving a court nod to Harry as she sat on the chair next to him.

Harry gave her a wide smile, stretching his arm to shake her hand. “Hi! I’m Harry Os–“

“I know who you are.” Lila deadpanned as she took a menu and began looking at it. Harry tilted his head in confusion and across the table, Harley couldn’t help but smile as he pretended to read the list.

“I don’t know who you are, though.” He continued politely, and Lila kept her gaze down. “Well that’s not an issue at all, trust me.”

“Do you think they have carbonara here?” Peter chimed in, trying to change subject. Harley scanned quickly the menu and pouted.

“I could ask them?”

“Yeah _we_ could ask them.” Peter agreed, taking Harley’s hand and quickly getting up from the table. As Harley followed him, a confused expression covering is face, Lila raised a brow in annoyance, and then realisation hit her like a truck.

“I don’t know what they promised you, but I don’t do boyfriends – or girlfriends for that matter.” She began as calmly as she could. “Especially if they are spoiled dumbasses.”

Harry narrowed his eyes, keeping his gaze focused on Lila’s profile, then he let out a bright laugh. “That’s okay.” He replied in a light-hearted tone. “I didn’t really want to come off as spoiled or dumbass but I guess Harley told you things about me just like Peter told me about you.” He explained keeping a bright smile on his face, and Lila gave him an unimpressed look for this sudden change in behaviour.

“Look, our respective best friends clearly love each other and maybe wanted us to meet so that they could have an excuse to introduce me in their group of friends.” Harry said gently. “I was told that you’re kind of a black and white type of person, but I promise I’m not totally an idiot – it’s just genetic.”

Lila’s lips twitched lightly upwards at his joke, although she composed herself quick enough not to give away her silent agreement to a truce. By the time Peter and Harley came back, Lila put up the menu as if it was a wall, and let her hand slide on its side, revealing a middle finger. Harley and Peter grinned in amusement.


End file.
